1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscopic system equipped with, in addition to an endoscope and a light source device, a gas supply apparatus for supplying gas to a body cavity (such as abdominal cavity and luminal cavity) of an object to be examined via a gas supply channel of the endoscope for achieving observation.
2. Related Art
Attempts have heretofore been undertaken to carry out laparoscopic surgeries (hereinafter also referred to as surgical operations) without opening an abdominal cavity with a view to implementing treatment on a patient with minimally invasive capability. During such surgical operations, a first trocar, through which, for instance, an endoscope for observation is guided to the abdominal cavity, and a second trocar, through which a treatment tool is guided to a treatment site, are inserted to an inside of the abdominal cavity of a patient. Additionally, with a view to ensuring a visual field of the endoscope and ensuring an expanded area through which the treatment tool is manipulated, an abdominal insufflation gas is introduced to the abdominal cavity by an abdominal insufflation device through the trocar, mentioned above, or another trocar. Such an abdominal insufflation device is known from, for instance, Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2000-139827.
Injecting an abdominal insufflation gas into the abdominal cavity results in a status wherein the abdominal cavity is distended. Therefore, it becomes possible to execute necessary treatment or the like by using the endoscope, inserted to the abdominal cavity via the first trocar, and observing a treatment site while confirming that the treatment tool has been inserted through the second trocar.
Also, as for abdominal insufflation gas, for instance, use is made of a carbon dioxide gas (CO2, which is referred to as a carbon dioxide gas), which is easy to be absorbed by a living body.
In recent years, as new attempts, in addition to a technology of using the endoscope inserted to the luminal cavity, such as larger intestine, through the above-described first trocar, therapeutic procedures have been conducted for treating a treatment site upon inserting a flexiblescope into the luminal cavity. With such therapeutic procedures, the treatment site can be specified with the endoscope inserted in the abdominal cavity and another endoscope inserted in the luminal cavity for curative treatment.
In implementing such procedures, since there are needs for carbon dioxide gas to be separately supplied to both the abdominal cavity and the luminal cavity, the use of an abdominal insufflation device of the related art merely in a single unit is insufficient. This results in a need for preparing a system, i.e., a so-called laparoscopic surgery operation system, which is based on the abdominal insufflation device of the related art. The laparoscopic surgery operation system includes an integrated system that is comprised of a first light source device and a cameral control unit to which a rigidscope, available to be inserted to an abdominal cavity via a trocar, is connected; a second light source device and a second cameral control unit to which a flexiblescope, having an inserter section available to be inserted to a luminal cavity, is connected; the related art abdominal insufflation device and a first carbon dioxide gas container from which carbon dioxide gas is supplied to the abdominal cavity via the trocar; an endoscopic carbon dioxide gas regulator (Endoscopic CO2 Regulator: hereinafter abbreviated as ECR) and a second carbon dioxide gas container from which carbon dioxide gas is supplied, as observation gas, to the luminal cavity via the inserter section and a manipulator of the flexiblescope and a gas supply and water supply conduit formed in a universal cord; and a controller electrically connected to the respective component parts for executing operation controls.
That is, the second light source device is continuously supplied with, in place of air delivered from a gas supply and water supply pump, carbon dioxide gas, which has been originally used in the flexiblescope, from the ECR. This carbon dioxide gas is supplied into the luminal cavity via the manipulator of the flexiblescope and the gas supply and water supply conduit.
However, such a system allows carbon dioxide gas to be supplied to the luminal cavity only when an operator executes a closing operation of a bore portion formed in a gas supply and water supply button of the flexiblescope. Stated another way, under circumstances where the operator does not close the gas supply and water supply button, carbon dioxide gas is continuously released from the bore portion to the atmosphere during a period in which the ECR supplies carbon dioxide gas to the delivery member. That is, this results in continuous consumption of carbon dioxide gas from the second carbon dioxide gas container even under a non-observing condition wherein no observation for the luminal cavity is implemented, causing a waste of gas.
Further, the laparoscopic surgery operation system, mentioned above, takes the form of a structure in which in addition to the light source device, the camera control unit and the abdominal insufflation device that are used in normal operations, the ECR are separately added. For this reason, there is a possibility wherein the operator forgets to turn off a power switch of the ECR after the operation has been completed. Such a case also results in consumption of carbon dioxide gas in a continuous and useless fashion.